In stack bundling machines, the discharge area of a printing press for signatures may discharge signatures in a scaled flow and be connected to arrangements for taking over the discharged signatures to accumulate and shape them into configurations suitable for storage. For example, the discharged signatures may be shaped as bundles for further processing into various printed products such as magazines, newspapers, brochures, and any other printed products containing the signature bundles. EP 0 623 542 A1 describes examples of stack bundling machines such as the stack bundling machine marketed by Muller Martini Holding AG under the commercial name “AVANTI.”
However, processing steps in stack bundling machines, e.g., removing the products from a printing machine and preparing them for further processing by shaping them as bundles, are time-consuming and often unreliable. Thus, it is desirable to develop a high capacity stack bundling machines that operate reliably and have shorter cycle times, more selection options with respect to the bundle length and shorter residual bundles.